The Dirt on Resilience
I have come down with a severe case of confirmation bias.
I count myself as one of those who believe that contact with the earth...
A Christmas Tree You Don’t Know Beans About
The locust tree is a rare symbol of Christmas and Easter as one.
The Beauty of the Unexpected
This year an unexpected autumn snow blanketed our farm. In the days that followed, single-digit temperatures secured its place in the landscape, and another,...
Orchards
The presence of a mature orchard is a sign of the longevity of the farm and the temperance and patience of its farmers.
Local Man, 54, Kills First Turkey
"I dipped the now limp turkey into a cauldron of boiling water, plucked its feathers and gutted it. On a chilly afternoon, it felt perfectly natural and pleasurable to warm one’s stiff fingers inside a steaming body cavity..."
Dying Properly—like a Dumb Ass (A Dispatch)
Little do I know that in a few days I will have died properly: by explosion.
Playing by Ear
"Anyone who does much language study knows that training your ear to hear the language spoken correctly is half the battle of language acquisition. If you know what sounds right, then when you encounter the words spoken incorrectly, they will sound wrong..."
To a Hare, From a Louse
But on this day, I am the louse. It’s my “impudence” and “cursed speed” that has made me break what little union I had with my fellow mortals.
Resisting Romanticism and the Elision of Labor
I thus find myself in the odd position of resisting romanticism while, nevertheless, hoping that future conditions will create that temptation.